Running Blog for Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals

I’m settled in a house in Belle Isle, Fla. I’ve got a TV and a computer … might as well blog this game out.

Thanks for following along!! I’ll be happy to hear any of your comments on the game or series, etc.

8:14 p.m. – About 45 minutes until the tip in Staples Center. I am watching the local pregame show on Orlando’s ABC affiliate and just heard one of the on-site reporters in Los Angeles saying that Dwight Howard will score 40 points and go for a triple-double.

Biased much?

Nonetheless, Howard is going to show up. He will not record a triple-double, but I think 24 points and 16 rebounds sounds right.

8:23 p.m. – The news broadcast just showed a bar in downtown Orlando filled with Magic fans who they brought their inflatable noisemakers into the restaurant. I’m am SO glad that I am not there right now.

8:31 p.m. – With all this talk of Jameer Nelson coming back, I’ve heard no one talk about what role Adam Morrison will play in this series.

… C’mon people! He’s the next Larry Bird!

OK, Adam. Just sit there and look lost.

8:32 p.m. – By the way, Jameer Nelson has been activated by the Magic and could play in this game. How much or even if he will are unanswerable questions right now.

8:33 p.m. – Don’t get to say this much, but good point by Jon Berry. How much more pressure than the Magic are the Lakers feeling coming into this game? It should be quite a bit since they are the team expected to win.

8:45 p.m. – The Pittsburgh Penguins are leading the Detroit Red Wings, 1-0, in the first period of Game 4.

The normal reaction to this statement should be “What? They’re still playing hockey in June?”

Seriously, the Stanley Cup Finals are on Versus, a network that shows about 20 hours of hunting and fishing shows per day and is available in about 100 homes nationwide. This is sad.

I actually didn’t know this game was tonight. I just found it by flipping through the channels. It didn’t take long for me to get bored by Stuart Scott and those kids handling the pregame.

8:48 p.m. – Forrest Gump is currently on HBO East. Awesome! I am switching between that and Juno on HBO West.

Is this NBA game going to start soon????

8:54 p.m. – I have taken off my hat for the Star-Spangled Banner, but I can’t stand, so singer Jeffrey Osborne is just going to have to make due.

8:56 p.m. – I like how Magic guard Courtney Lee is wearing an NBA Finals headband with what looks to be the NBA trophy on the front. As if you didn’t know that this is the NBA Finals already …

Finally, five days of game-planning and predictions are about to end. Finally, there is a game to be played …

… before three more days of game-planning and predictions until Game 2 on Sunday. Oh, how you’ve got to love the amount of media at this time in history.

9:03 p.m. – What will be worse in this series: the officiating or Jeff Van Gundy’s effort to remain unbiased?

9:07 p.m. – I just saw the commercial for I Survived a Japanese Game Show. It looks decent, but I liked it the first time when it was called Banzai.

Anyway, on to the game. The Magic control the tip.

9:10 p.m. – Andrew Bynum scores the Lakers’ first four points. If he plays well, that’s gigantic for the Lakers. He’s an absolute bonus in this series if he stays out of foul trouble.

9:14 p.m. – Both teams working it inside with ease. Dwight Howard gets fouled and makes one of two free throws. That’s better than an easy dunk if you are Los Angeles.

9:18 p.m. Courtney Lee is doing a very nice job on Kobe Bryant to start. He’s not backing down much. He’s undersized versus Kobe, but he’s got the length and quickness to keep up.

I watched Lee versus LeBron in the regular season and the rookie got torched. They switched off of him pretty quickly. On the league’s biggest stage, he looks good.

14-14 at the game’s first commercial break.

9:25 p.m. Bynum picks up his second foul with 3:14 left in the first. Well, at least he did something before he picked up those fouls. That hasn’t been the case lately.

9:29 p.m. I’ll try to keep this blog up while I eat dinner: Salad and spaghetti. Good times.

9:32 p.m. Dwight Howard out of the game with two fouls. We’ll see how Marcin Gortat defends Gasol, but he’s played well at the end of the year.

9:34 p.m. You have to feel good if you are a Magic fan right now. They are shooting not quite as well as the Lakers, Howard is on the bench and the game is tied at 22 with the first quarter coming to a close.

9:36 p.m. – Good first quarter. Magic 24, Lakers 22. Both teams don’t look anxious or nervous. Even the smallest of leads at the end of a the first quarter is a huge win for the Magic. Hedo Turkoglu is the leading scorer with nine points. Andrew Bynum has eight, but two fouls as well.

9:41 p.m. – Jameer Nelson makes an appearance. This should be interesting. I don’t think he’ll play more than 15 minutes, just for safety reasons.

9:44 p.m. – Jameer Nelson with two assists and a nice jumper from the side of the key in his first 3 minutes.

I guess he’s fine.

9:45 p.m. – Nelson is causing a lot of problems for the Lakers. He looks very quick and fresh and just made a hell of a pass to Lee for an easy hoop. Timeout, Lakers. 33-28, Magic. 8:32 left in the first half.

9:51 p.m. – How quickly things change. It took 2 minutes for the Lakers to re-take the lead. Mickael Pietrus looks like the first player taken aback by the stage. He’s 0 of 5 from the field, including an air ball, and he has had plenty of good looks. 34-33 Lakers with 6:30 left.

9:53 p.m. – See, the Portland Trailblazers of the late ’90s should be thanked by the NBA. Without them, the league never would have started its NBA Cares campaign to re-gain its reputation. Ruben Patterson, thank you.

9:56 p.m. – Kobe Bryant is just putting in some unguardable shots.

Is unguardable a word? According to Merriam-Webster, no. But that’s Kobe Bryant’s fault. These shots are absolutely unguarable.

Lakers on a 10-0 run and lead 38-33. The Magic’s composure will be tested until halftime.

10:01 p.m. – Bynum (3) and Gasol (2) back in foul trouble. Gasol has to be VERY careful in this last 3:48 until the half.

10:12 p.m. – Lakers lead 53-43 at the half. You can’t be too depressed if you are the Magic. You’ve seen far worse deficits in these playoffs, and the outside shooters just aren’t getting it done right now.

For the Lakers, you have to feel good, too. They rebounded from a somewhat dull first quarter. They are being heavily outshot at the free-throw line and are still ahead by 10.

And Kobe Bryant. Maybe’s he’s the player that the Orlando reporter should have chosen to have a triple-double.

10:21 p.m. – The NBA fined LeBron James $25,000 for that whole skipping the postgame press conference last week.

OH NO! Now LeBron won’t be able to get that new watch he had his eye on.

Oh, yeah he can. Just with a different $25,000.

10:25 p.m. – This has been a very clean game, with only eight turnovers. The Magic just have to be patient. They will make their run.

10:29 p.m. – Jeez, they are coming out with another series of Superstars on ABC. Do you remember the first set back in the 1970s? Here’s an absolute classic! Drown goes Fraizer, drown goes Fraizer!

10:45 p.m. – Took a dinner break, but all I missed was the Lakers playing very smooth basketball. Great passing on the Odom lay-up. Some more great shots by Kobe Bryant. And, even though Bynum picked up his fourth foul, you can see that Orlando is struggling with both Gasol and Odom crashing the boards here in the third.

10:47 p.m. – The Magic just aren’t hitting many outside shots — just 5 of 17 in 3-point range.

Howard is still in there right now. The Magic need to back off the outside shots right now and just get an easy bucket from Dwight. Make your offense turn into defense. The Magic are one of the best teams in the NBA at that.

10:51 p.m. – The Magic are lost right now. They can’t make outside shots and Howard is being guarded well on the inside.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant is an absolute beast.

10:56 p.m. – I am not going to say this one is over because I’ve seen the Magic in these playoffs, but it’s real close.

10:58 p.m. – I guess this is what happens when you put arguably the game’s greatest player on its biggest stage and with a massive, Shaq-sized chip on his shoulder. 36, 7 and 8 for Bryant, and we aren’t even in the fourth quarter yet.

11:02 p.m. – Lakers ahead 82-58 at the end of the third quarter in which they outscored the Magic 29-15. Just looking on the court at the end of the quarter, you had Bryant, Odom, Ariza and Gasol as four of the five Lakers playing.

That’s a lot of length/athleticism that the Magic have to contend with. Right now, they just can’t.

11:04 p.m. – The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2, to even up the Stanley Cup Finals at 2-2.

OK. Now, back to a well-publicized sport …

11:07 p.m. – Jeez, who is going to be the player of the game? Why vote?

11:17 p.m. – Lakers up by 25 with 7:18 left and here comes Kobe Bryant back into the game. Yeah, why not just crush any doubts.

I don’t think this could possibly be just to keep him fresh.

11:20 p.m. – Is it any coincidence that Dwight Howard is having a rough scoring game with all the times he has been to the line tonight? He has taken six shots and 13 free throws. That is huge for the Lakers.

I understand that this game is a blowout and that Howard’s shot attempts were limited by the nature of the game, but all the Lakers need to do is keep fouling Howard.

11:28 p.m. – The Magic have to be somewhat relieved that this is only Game 1, the most inconsequential game of a seven-game series.

11:33 p.m. – I hope Lisa Leslie was on the left side of that picture.

11:34 p.m. – If I am Denzel Washington, I am disrespected that it took ABC nearly the full four quarters to recognize me in the crowd. Even then, he was shown AFTER David Arquette.

11: 35 p.m. – With the game well in hand, Lakers’ fans turn to what they really care about: free tacos.

If the Lakers hold any opponent to less than 100 points and win that home game, the fans get free tacos. In some games, it will be the loudest that they cheer all night.

11:37 p.m. – This one is officially over after being pretty much done since the end of the third quarter. Lakers win 100-75. I did like Dwight Howard giving his team some encouragement as the game ended. I don’t expect this type of result in Game 2.

Unfortunately, that has to wait until Sunday. Three. Long. Days!

11:41 p.m. – So, do you think some reporter will ask Stan Van Gundy if his team will be able to respond to such a sound defeat? I’m sure someone will. That person hasn’t been paying attention.

11:43 p.m. – Well, that was fun. I thank all of you who viewed this while I had this going on. Maybe I’ll do this for Game 2. This was a new experience for me and I enjoyed it. There will be many more running blogs in the future here.